


That Missing Rib

by katikat



Category: HIStory3 - 圈套 | HIStory3: Trap
Genre: Angst, Comfort, M/M, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 17:35:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19255945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katikat/pseuds/katikat
Summary: And then it truly sinks in: he’s finally free. (Unbeta'd)





	That Missing Rib

The rectangle of a sunny day at the end of the corridor leading out of the prison building feels like the light at the end of the tunnel to Tang Yi.  _Finally free._

When he steps outside, he has to shut his eyes for a moment, the daylight is so bright it stings. He stops there, and lifting his face up to the sky, he breathes in deeply.  _Finally free._

Then, as he lets go of the anxiety that’s been sitting at the base of his throat for months on end and opens his eyes, he sees…  _him_. Shao Fei with the brightest of smiles and the warmest of arms.

And then it truly sinks in: he’s finally free.

* * *

Shao Fei drives them back home. Some people would want to do it themselves, immediately assume control again, but Tang Yi doesn’t mind. Letting go of all the stress pent up over the course of almost two years feels tiring.

And this way, he can just sit there and watch Shao Fei. He’s missed his lover so much it hurt. Sometimes that wistful desire to be back in his arms made it hard for him to breathe. Now Tang Yi can let himself look and touch to his heart’s content.

“What?” Shao Fei asks with a soft laugh, throwing Tang Yi a quick look.

“You’re letting your hair grow out,” Tang Yi comments with a smile and reaches out to tuck an unruly strand of hair behind Shao Fei’s ear.

Shao Fei’s expression turns a bit sheepish. “Yeah, my ears don’t stick out as much this way.”

“I love your ears,” Tang Yi replies, smoothing down Shao Fei’s hair and stroking the shell of his ear.

Shao Fei throws him another look. “You’re so weird…” he says fondly.

Maybe.

* * *

Tang Yi expects the house to be full of people; Hong Ye threatened to throw him a ‘Welcome Home’ party and she absolutely refused to be dissuaded, no matter how much he tried to tell her he would prefer a quiet return home. So he’s rather surprised to find the house empty when they arrive - the army of bodyguards milling about doesn’t count, he’s so used to having them around.

“Where is everybody?” Tang Yi asks when they enter the blessedly quiet house.

Shao Fei closes the door behind them. “I asked them to give you -  _us_  - some space today. Is that okay?” he asks uncertainly.

Tang Yi smiles, honestly relieved. He doesn’t feel like meeting crowds of people right now. He can’t wait to see Hong Ye and all his friends,  _really_ , just… just not  _today_. Apparently, Shao Fei still understands best what he truly needs. It makes Tang Yi’s chest feel warm. “Yes, thank you.”

Shao Fei shuffles his feet a little. The mood between them seems to have turned a bit awkward now that they’re back home, the way it used to be before all their walls came down and all their boundaries were crossed. A couple of years have passed and it’s as if they’re unsure of where they stand now. Because Shao Fei’s life kept moving forward - but Tang Yi’s did not.

“Would you-would like something to eat?” Shao Fei blurts out, waving his hand in the direction of the kitchen. “I actually learned to cook. Well, cook  _better_ , that is, it’s not like I was starving before I met you, or something, I mean–” He cuts himself off, feeling even more awkward now.

Tang Yi isn’t hungry, though. What he really wants right now is a shower. He feels…  _fouled_ , the stain of prison life sunk deeply into his skin. He can still smell them, the cheap soap and even cheaper detergent, and it’s turning his stomach a little. He couldn’t swallow a bite right now.

“No, but thank you,” he replies politely. “I’m going to go and take a shower first, alright?”

Shao Fei’s shoulders slump a little and his face falls - and it hurts Tang Yi to see it - but then he pulls himself back together again, and with a smile as bright as ever he says, “Sure, of course. Everything’s where you left it, I promise!”

Tang Yi smiles a little and nods, and taking a step closer, he kisses Shao Fei on the forehead gently. “I’ll be quick,” he promises and then he goes.

He can feel Shao Fei’s eyes on his back.

* * *

When he undresses, he doesn’t fold his clothes, he doesn’t throw them in the hamper. No, he throws them  _out_. Not even the best dry cleaner could ever get the stink of prison out of them.

In the shower, there’s his favorite shampoo and his favorite shower gel, all new bottles, barely opened. Tang Yi smiles at this, at the realization that Shao Fei’s been using his products and buying new ones, again and again over the years. He must’ve missed Tang Yi as much as Tang Yi missed him. It makes Tang Yi’s heart flutter.

He takes a long,  _long_ shower. The water’s hot, the washcloth is soft… and the room is  _private_. He learned to truly appreciate privacy in there. It still wasn’t the thing he missed the most, though.

When Tang Yi leaves the bathroom, dressed only in his bathrobe, his feet bare on the thick carpet, he finds Shao Fei in the bedroom. His lover is sitting on the bed, dressed inexplicably in his pajamas - worn gray sweatpants and a ratty t-shirt - and he’s looking rather…  _apprehensive_.

“Shao Fei…?” Tang Yi asks slowly.

Shao Fei stands up and reaches out a tentative hand towards Tang Yi. “Come to bed?” he asks hopefully and then he clarifies quickly, “I just… I want to hold you. I just want to  _hold_ you.”

Tang Yi accepts Shao Fei’s invitation with a smile. They crawl across the bed covers together and lie down on top of them, snuggling against each other with Shao Fei on his back and Tang Yi with his head on Shao Fei’s chest, feeling his lover’s arms around him as he listen to his lover’s heart beating steadily under his ear.

“This is what I missed the most,” Tang Yi confesses, feeling the last remnants of tension drain out of him. It wasn’t privacy and it wasn’t sex what he lacked and craved the most in there, it was  _intimacy_ , the safety of a lover’s warm embrace.

Shao Fei kisses the top of his head. “Me too,” he whispers.

And as Shao Fei pulls him even closer, entwining their legs, Tang Yi marvels once again at just how perfectly they fit together, he and Shao Fei, both their bodies and their souls.

“I love you so much,” Shao Fei adds in a quiet voice full of emotions and his breath hitches a little in his chest.

Burying closer, as close as he can, Tang Yi replies softly, “Me too.” 

And with a smile, he thinks,  _That missing rib you told me about, I found it, Tang Guo Dong. And I’m never going to risk losing it again._


End file.
